Russia, Donbas leaders call for permanent special status in Ukraine

2016/1/29 16:40:35

UBO: This latest Russian move was as predictable as snow in January. Since Vladimir Putin figures that he is ahead in the game, he will demand even more concessions because stalemate, not agreement, is what he really wants. We suggest it is time for the Ukrainian side to tell Putin and company where to stick their latest demands. The only thing you get by agreeing to a Russian demand is a more outrageous demand.

 

<Photo: Boris Gryzlov (left) and friend

 


KYIV, Jan 29, 2016 (UBO) – Concorde Capital informed clients in an online advisory that, according to Boris Gryzlov, Russia’s new representative to Trilateral Contact Group, the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics must gain permanent special status in the Ukrainian Constitution, rather than expiring in 2017 as previously agreed upon.

Such amendments should be approved by the Contact Group, Gryzlov said.

 

The same proposal was echoed by leaders of the terrorist groups attending the talks, the report said, without identifying them. They called for securing permanent special status, widely considered to be de facto autonomy, in the body of the Constitution, rather than its transitional statutes, as had been proposed by the Ukrainian side.

 

Concorde analyst Zenon Zawada added: “So much for the recent drive to forge some kind of a compromise. By this raising of its ante, the Russian side has buried the circulating notions that the recent weeks of negotiations, involving top diplomats, drew the opponents in this conflict closer to agreement. We’re essentially back to Square One in the talks. Moreover, the West will never agree to permanent de facto autonomy for Donbas as its strategy was based on this autonomy failing eventually.”

 

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